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In 2005 (the most recent year for which data was available), 963.6 million visits were made to physicians throughout the United Sates (Cherry, Woodwell, & Rechtsteiner, 2007). This is the equivalent of 331 visits per 100 persons per year. Among medical specialties, psychiatrists were the 8th most frequently visited physician for a total of 28,125,000 visits, or 9.7 per 100 persons per year. Of these, 18.3% were referrals from other physicians and 53.5% were from nonphysicians.

Certainly all psychotherapists have clients who have seen, or are seeing, one type of physician or another for evaluation or treatment. Unfortunately, as with other ...